Communities across the Hudson Valley are gearing up for a major winter storm Friday that could bring up to 12 inches of snow to parts of the region.

The City of Newburgh has declared a snow emergency effective starting at 6 p.m. Snow emergency parking regulations will be in effect until its lifted.

Monroe officials are stepping up road preparations after a number of crashes during the last storm. Highway crews will have 12 trucks on the road loaded with a salt-sand mix. Orange County saw nearly 200 crashes during a storm earlier this month, which emergency officials say was more than double the average. In Monroe, crews plan to pre-treat roads before the snow starts and again toward the end of the storm to help prevent icing. Town and county officials say they'll monitor operations overnight and retreat trouble spots as needed.

In Rockland County, highway crews are also getting plows and salters ready. Officials say new trucks will help clear roads Friday and Saturday.

Hardware stores across the region are seeing a surge in customers ahead of the snow. Store owners in Hastings-on-Hudson and Yonkers say they've been busy all day helping people grab last-minute essentials, such as shovels, ice melt and scrapers. They've been planning for the rush since early this week. Store owners say the first sales of the day were shovels and calcium chloride.